Against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, catastrophic weather occurrences, and wars, President Muhammadu Buhari advocated for more business sector engagement in Nigeria’s humanitarian sector on Friday in New York.
The President also emphasised the necessity for effective coordination between humanitarian action and disaster mitigation players in the country, asking bilateral and multilateral development partners to continue providing technical assistance to well-planned policies and programmes in the sector.
The President spoke at a side event hosted by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development at the 77th United Nations General Assembly entitled “Strengthening Resilience and Sustaining Development: A Humanitarian Development Peace Approach to Leaving No One Behind.”
President Buhari described the establishment of the Humanitarian Ministry in August 2019 as a strategic intervention that underscored Nigeria’s commitment to bolster resilience and sustain development through enhanced coordination and synergy between international, regional, and national humanitarian and development actors, partners, and governments.
In the 37 months that the Ministry has been operational, it has collaborated with national governments, Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, the organised private sector, the United Nations, Local and International Non-Governmental Organisations, and security actors to broaden dialogue, strengthen existing capacities, and enhance coping strategies, he told the meeting.
“The Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management & Social Development, its Agencies and Programmes, have developed policies, frameworks, programmes and plans that form the foundation necessary to build resilience.
“Some of these include the Civil Security Cooperation in Humanitarian Action, which created the National Humanitarian Coordination Committee, the development of LIFE Coordination Framework and the National Humanitarian Committee Technical Working Group.
“Other policies, frameworks, programmes and plans that support the agenda 2030 and resilience building of our citizenry are the National Internally Displaced Persons Policy, the Revised National Emergency Management Plan, the National Emergency Flood and Response Plan, the National Policy for Aging for Elderly Persons, the Poverty Reduction Plan, and the revised National Policy on disability, all aimed at supporting our Administration’s strategy to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in 10 years.”
The President noted that the Ministry led the administration’s efforts to combat poverty and ensure social inclusion via the Social Investment Programmes, namely the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, the N-Power Programme, and the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme.
The President noted that Nigeria has prioritised the integration of Persons with Disabilities and the elderly in the country’s social protection area by establishing organisations that would focus on these groups.
Therefore, the President encouraged the gathering to analyse the shared experiences over the years and to develop potential transformative future solutions.
In her welcoming remarks, the Honorable Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouk, praised President Buhari for his assistance since the Ministry’s 2019 creation.
Prof. Babagana Umaru Zulum gave greetings of goodwill on behalf of the Nigeria Governors Forum, Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, and Development Partners.